ED asked to investigate allegedly dubious Raigad land deals involving NRIs
11 Feb, 2014A complaint had been filed with the Konkan divisional commissioner alleging that Non-resident Indians (NRIs) have been buying agricultural land in the coastal Konkan region of Raigad. The complainant also filed a complaint with the Reserve Bank of India saying that due to purchases by NRIs, the land prices in the region have gone extremely high and sought a probe into the issue.
Following the complaint, the collector of Raigad was instructed to look into the case and submit the enquiry report to the administration. However, in reply to an application filed in this regard under the Right to Information (RTI) Act the additional collector of Raigad stated that there is no provision in the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966 for verifying the NRI status of a property buyer.
The RTI reply also said that the department has forwarded the complaint to the Enforcement Directorate asking it to take over the probe.